Purpose The intent of this study is to discover whether practical examples of new forms of business enterprise are to be found in the real world and what the peculiarities of any such experiments are. Methodology / Approach The research conducted is of an eminently explorative nature. The research operations are fundamentally based on direct observation and use is also made of secondary sources – especially publications and the contributions of independent web-based agencies. Findings The number of companies that the research conducted made it possible to identify is not actually very high. Indeed, at present the list counts nine such firms. What should be underlined is that these are not enterprises that have decided to adopt a corporate social responsibility or corporate citizenship approach while still leaving their basic nature substantively unchanged. They are, rather, firms that can be termed “anomalous”, given that, in one way or another, they operate outside the conventional rules on the way business is conceived and practised. Research limitations/implications Research limitations are primarily in the short number of case studies considered, secondly in the lack of any contact with the firms examined and, by consequence, in the use of sole company web site information or secondary sources. Starting from the collection of firms which in turn show one or more peculiar features in their structure or behavior, research implications stem from the opportunity to reason around a new firm’s model credibly enough, as such a reasoning relies on some empirical evidence. Originality / Value Paper’s value lies in its effort of documenting the existence of firms going, one way or another, out of the box in their way of doing business and in focusing on some peculiar features far from “conventional managerial wisdom” but all the same non compromising these firms’ competitiveness.
New enterprise models: trial runs of ‘capitalism with a human face’
BRUNETTI, Federico
2010-01-01
Abstract
Purpose The intent of this study is to discover whether practical examples of new forms of business enterprise are to be found in the real world and what the peculiarities of any such experiments are. Methodology / Approach The research conducted is of an eminently explorative nature. The research operations are fundamentally based on direct observation and use is also made of secondary sources – especially publications and the contributions of independent web-based agencies. Findings The number of companies that the research conducted made it possible to identify is not actually very high. Indeed, at present the list counts nine such firms. What should be underlined is that these are not enterprises that have decided to adopt a corporate social responsibility or corporate citizenship approach while still leaving their basic nature substantively unchanged. They are, rather, firms that can be termed “anomalous”, given that, in one way or another, they operate outside the conventional rules on the way business is conceived and practised. Research limitations/implications Research limitations are primarily in the short number of case studies considered, secondly in the lack of any contact with the firms examined and, by consequence, in the use of sole company web site information or secondary sources. Starting from the collection of firms which in turn show one or more peculiar features in their structure or behavior, research implications stem from the opportunity to reason around a new firm’s model credibly enough, as such a reasoning relies on some empirical evidence. Originality / Value Paper’s value lies in its effort of documenting the existence of firms going, one way or another, out of the box in their way of doing business and in focusing on some peculiar features far from “conventional managerial wisdom” but all the same non compromising these firms’ competitiveness.
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